rewindable learning

These ponderings are about a keynote at a 'learning @school' conference e by American Kevin Honeycutt... check it out here... I  liked Kevin's discussion about 'rewindable learning'. Through a series of stories about himself, his students and of his own son, Kevin talks about the value of technology in enabling a much more personalised approach to learning. He cited his own experience in learning the guitar, having to hide it from his father, and of learning it one note at a time as he memorised music in sections from the sheet music in the music store – eventually teaching himself to play Les Zepplin's Stairway to Heaven. He then told of his son who wanted to learn to play the guitar, but declined to have his father 'teach' him. Instead he locked himself away in his bedroom and learned the same tune from a 6 year old who had posted his videos on YouTube. The key to this learning here was being able to re-wind the learning, to watch the one piece over and over, with no criticism or judgement, until mastery is achieved.  Once teachers ( and for us programme highlights ) are rewindable, children can make decisions to be involved in the 'rewindable experience'   and by so doing get as many chances to learn as they need.


He calls himself a 'digital dumpster diver'  as he sifts and sorts and decides on useful ICT tools  to help teach children - and isn't a techy- telling us he is a '12 o'clock flasher'  ( sounds dodgy!) - which means all the technology in his house is flashing '12' over and over because he can't set it.  But he is keen to emphasize that learners for the now need to be able to learn, unlearn and relearn.... not what we did which was learn once and perhaps know because knowledge and jobs wouldn't change for a really long time.

....................................rewindable learning is something I have seen time and time again in ece where the ICT set up is accessible to children and they have agency over the equipment ( within reason!). Not at the whim of  teacher who can get the computer out of the office during the day at times suitable to them...... the amount of children who ( for example) have revisited a favorite story using digital clips to supply soundtrack and visual cues as well as props to support this investigation such as puppets and books.... over and over until they are satisfied and have explored using a whole range of strategies! I've also seen it at home when I found three of my four sons lined up in front of you tube reminding themselves step by step how to tie a tie for a formal family occasion....! :)